U.S. Begins $4.05 Billion Madoff Fund Payout, Thousands to Recoup LossesU.S. Begins $4.05 Billion Madoff Fund Payout, Thousands to Recoup Losses
A total of 24,631 checks from the Madoff Victim Fund are being mailed to individuals, government entities, schools, charities, and pension and retirement plans in 49 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and 119 other countries.
November 10, 2017
By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK, Nov 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. government said it hasbegun distributing $772.5 million from a $4.05 billion fund tocompensate victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme, ending anearly nine-year wait for thousands of people to start recoupingtheir losses.
A total of 24,631 checks from the Madoff Victim Fund arebeing mailed to individuals, government entities, schools,charities, and pension and retirement plans in 49 U.S. states,Washington, D.C., and 119 other countries.
More than two-thirds of the recipients, or 16,557, hadreceived no prior compensation for their losses. They willreceive about $545 million from the payout, which is structuredto cover 25 percent of recipients' losses.
Rod Rosenstein, the deputy U.S. attorney general, in astatement on Thursday called the payout, from the Department ofJustice's victim compensation program, "the largest restorationof forfeited property in history."
Richard Breeden, a former U.S. Securities and ExchangeCommission chairman, oversees the $4.05 billion fund, which wasset up in November 2013. He declined to comment.
Madoff, 79, is serving a 150-year prison term for runningwhat prosecutors called a $65 billion Ponzi scheme, which wasuncovered in December 2008.
Payouts from the Madoff Victim Fund are eventually expectedto go to 37,214 claimants from 124 countries, and whose lossesexceeded $7.5 billion. Nearly all had invested indirectly withMadoff, such as through "feeder funds."
In a separate recovery effort, Irving Picard, a trusteeliquidating Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, hasrecouped $12.74 billion for the swindler's victims.
Picard, however, is making payouts to people who investeddirectly with Madoff, not indirectly, and has approved just2,625 claims. He has said customers with approved claims lostabout $17.5 billion.
The Justice Department and Breeden had drawn criticism overthe lack of payouts from the government fund, in part fueled byreports over bills by Breeden's firm for its services.
Most money in the fund came from settlements with the estateof Jeffry Picower, a Madoff investor from Florida, and JPMorganChase & Co, once Madoff's main bank.
"I'm pleased the government is finally beginning tocompensate the victims," Vern Buchanan, a Florida congressmanwho had complained about delays, said in an email. "These peoplewere cheated out of their life savings and have been waitingyears to get some of their money back. It's long overdue."(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by SusanThomas)
